Coating apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for coating the outer surface of bottles with resin film comprising a plurality of bottle holders each being adapted for holding the top and bottom of the bottle and for maintaining the bottle in a horizontal position, means for travelling and rotating the bottles about their axes as they are held by the bottle holders, and means for spraying the powdered material to the bottles as the latter are travelled and rotated.

United States Patent [191 Ishii et al.

[ 1 Nov. 25, 1975 1 1 COATING APPARATUS [75] Inventors: Yasunori Ishii, lchihara; Kajime Kanbeshiyama, Tamano; Kouichi Karakawa, Chiba; Akiharu Yamada, Tamano, all of Japan [73] Assignee: Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: June 19, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 480,701

3,258,521 6/1966 Francel et a1 427/425 3,310,431 3/1967 Loose 118/308 3,416,492 12/1968 Greenleaf 118/308 3,592,676 7/1971 From, Jr. et al.. 118/308 3,643,626 2/1972 McKay et a1v r 118/58 3,782,325 1/1974 Farnswo'rth et a1... .1 118/58 3,823,686 7/1974 Snyder 118/322 Primary Examiner-Mervin Stein Assistant Examiner-Douglas Salser Attorney, Agent, or FirmHowson and Howson [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for coating the outer surface of bottles with resin film comprising a plurality of bottle holders each being adapted for holding the top and bottom of the bottle and for maintaining the bottle in a horizontal position, means for travelling and rotating the bottles about their axes as they are held by the bottle holders, and means for spraying the powdered material to the bottles as the latter are travelled and rotated.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures COATING APPARATUS The present invention relates to an apparatus for coating the outer surface of glass bottles with protective film for preventing the explosion of the glass bottles.

The conventional coating apparatus of this type is so constructed that each bottle is suspended from the hanger gripping the neck thereof and a spray gun of the electrostatic coating machine is mounted so as to be directed to the bottle. The coating powder such as powder of polyethylene is sprayed by the spray gun to the outer surface of each bottle under the effect of high electrical voltage, the bottle so coated with the powdered material is then heated for fusing the powdered material and providing a protective and reinforcing film on the outer surface of the bottle.

In this known apparatus, it is difficult to form a uniform coating film on the surface of the bottles, because the bottles are vertically suspended. Moreover, if desired to form a thick coating film, it is also necessary to preheat the overall bottle to a temperature higher than the fusing point of the powdered material, so that the powder may be immediately fused upon contact with the bottle surface.

In addition, since each bottle to be coated is suspended by hanger, bottles must be spaced sufficiently from one another for preventing the contact between bottles owing to swing of bottles and the scratch of the film resulting therefrom.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized and improved coating apparatus capable of yielding a large amount of high quality products.

The coating apparatus of the present invention is so constructed and arranged that the coating powder is downwardly sprayed to the bottle which is held in the horizontal position and rotated about its axis, so that the powder may adhere to the surface of the bottles and fuse to provide a film.

According to this invention, if the bottle is preheated and powder is uniformly sprayed, thick coating film can be formed without electric charge.

Moreover, in accordance with the present invention, since each bottle is gripped at its top and bottom and moved, there is no generation of swing of the bottle, and hence the space between bottles can be reuduced to a minimum, thus resulting in increased travelling speed and improvement of productivity of the coating apparatus.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the coating apparatus according to the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Referring to the drawing, each bottle 1 is held at the top and bottom thereof in the horizontal position by a pair of gripping members 3 and 4 which are formed to fit with the top and bottom of the bottle 1. These grip members 3 and 4 are secured respectively to spindles 5 and 6 rotatably and slidably carried by housings 7 and 7. Each housing 7 is provided with rollers 9 at its upper side and underside and each roller is engaged with rails provided in the guide member 2, so that the housing may be travelled along the guide member 2. A number of bottle holders constituted by the grip members, spin- 2 dles and housings are provided in the guide members 2, and the opposite housings 7 are connected together by endless chains 16 or 17 and are adapted to be driven at an equal speed in phase. Thus opposite spindles 5 and 6 aligned are in the horizontal? position during travelling of the housings.

The spindles 5 and 6 are provided with flanges 15 and 14 respectively and each spring 8 provided between the flange and thrust bearing 18 urges the spidle and gripping members to the bottle to hold it.

The spindle 5 is extended outwardly from the housing 7 and guide member 2, and there is provided a pinion l0 engaging with a pin rack 11 provided along the guide member 2, so that the spindle 5 is rotated about its axis as the housing 7 associated therewith is moved along the guide member 2. The rotation of the spindle 5 is transmitted to the bottle 1 through the grip member 3 and hence to the grip member 4 and spindle 6.

One or a plurality of spray guns 13 are provided in a downwardly directed position above the bottle 1 for continuously spraying the powdered material towards the bottle 1. Height, spraying direction and angle of the spray gun 13 can be adjusted. The numeral 12 denotes a cover for preventing the powdered material from flying.

Each bottle 1 is tracted by the endless chains 16 and 17 to pass through a zone beneath the spray gun at a speed of 1.5 to 3 meters per minute, while rotated 6 to l0 revolutions per minute. The powdered material sprayed during the travel of the bottle 1 is deposited uniformly on the outer surface of the travelling bottle 1 before the latter reaches the [fusing unit.

While the description has been made with reference to an embodiment in which the bottle 1 is coated with powdered material as it travels in a horizontal position, the present invention is not limited to such embodiment but may include such modification in which the bottle 1 is moved vertically or obliquely or the bottle 1 is temporarily stopped and rotated about its axis by some other driving means. Moreover, the spray gun 13 can be substituted by the conventional electrostatic coating device.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for coating bottles with protective film comprising a pair of parallel guide members and a plurality of bottle holders provided in each guide member; each bottle holder comprising a housing, a horizontal spindle slidably and rotatably provided in the housing and arranged to oppose with another spindle of a housing in the opposite guide member, a first gripping member secured to the inner end of said horizontal spindle and another gripping member secured to said another spindle so as to be opposed to said first gripping mem-i ber, a spring provided in the housing to urge said horizontal spindle toward said other spindle, and rollers for supporting each said housing in its guide member so that said housing may be travelled along its guide member, each said housing being connected to an adjacent housing in the same guide member, means for moving all of saidhousings along their corresponding guide members, means for rotating each said spindle during travelling thereof, whereby bottles may be held in the horizontal position by opposite ones of said bottle holders and rotated during their travelling along said guide members, and means for spraying powdered resin into the region between opposed pairs of said gripping members to coat said bottles with said resin, said region being free of interfering members which if present would interfere with said spraying.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Q PATENT NO. 1 3,921,575 Serial No.: 480,701

DATED November 25, 1975 INVENTOR(S) Yasunori Ishii et a1 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the first or Abstract page, below [21] Appl. No.:

a 480,701, add:

-- [30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 28, 1973 Japan 73098 O Signed and gealed this fourth Day of May 1976 [SEAL] Q Arresr:

RUTH c. MASON c. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer (mnmissinm'r uj'larmrs and Trademark: 

1. Apparatus for coating bottles with protective film comprising a pair of parallel guide members and a plurality of bottle holders provided in each guide member; each bottle holder comprising a housing, a horizontal spindle slidably and rotatably provided in the housing and arranged to oppose with another spindle of a housing in the opposite guide member, a first gripping member secured to the inner end of said horizontal spindle and another gripping member secured to said another spindle so as to be opposed to said first gripping member, a spring provided in the housing to urge said horizontal spindle toward said other spindle, and rollers for supporting each said housing in its guide member so that said housing may be travelled along its guide member, each said housing being connected to an adjacent housing in the same guide member, means for moving all of said housings along their corresponding guide members, means for rotating each said spindle during travelling thereof, whereby bottles may be held in the horizontal position by opposite ones of said bottle holders and rotated during their travelling along said guide members, and means for spraying powdered resin into the region between opposed pairs of said gripping members to coat said bottles with said resin, said region being free of interfering members which if present would interfere with said spraying. 